He spent 20 years at Penn State, from 1986-2006, including four years as dean of the university's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

During that time Barron says he learned to continually strive for excellence and to understand the power of the Penn State community.

"And in true Penn State fashion, for every job that I have accepted, I have set the same goal and asked the same question of myself, "How do you make a great institution even better?" That defines my job," he explained.

The 62-year-old Barron is currently president at Florida State University. He will take over as Penn State's new president on May 12th.

Barron will earn $800,000 a year, plus a $200,000 annual retention bonus. He'll also receive a completion payment of one million dollars, if he serves the full five-year term.

Outgoing PSU President Rodney Erickson calls Barron a person of the highest integrity. Erickson previously announced, in March of 2012, that he would retire by June 30th 2014.